For Consumers and Parents: May 2007 Product Recalls

Government websites have reputations for being difficult to navigate, hard to understand and not terribly useful. That's not always the case. The Consumer Product Safety Commission lists consumer product recalls each month. Some of the recalls are rather disturbing. Here are some from the May 2007 recall list, for items that could potentially cause serious injury or worse:

Children's shoes: Airwalk Compel Shoes a choking hazard. (Sold at Payless ShoeSource, Payless.com and Pamida.) http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07171.html.

Discovery Bunny Books a choking hazard. (Sold by Bookspan and bookspan.com.)http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07551.html.

GE Dishwashers a fire hazard. (Made by General Electric, sold at a lot of places.) http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07190.html.

Ellemenno brand Girls Capri Pants with Snap Roll Cuff a choking hazard. (Sold by Mervyns). http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07187.html.

Evenflo Embrace Infant Car Seat/Carrier handle problem can result in child falling. (Manufactured by Evenflo Company Inc.; sold at a lot of places). http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07186.html.

Parents Magazine Record-a-voice Toy Cell Phone a choking hazard. (Manufactured by Battat Inc.; sold at Target). http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07178.html.

Soft Blocks Tower Toys (on Graco Baby Einstein discover and play Activity Centers) a choking hazard. (Manufactured by Graco Children's Products Inc., and sold at a lot of places). http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07176.html.

Polaris 2006 Hawkeye ATVs for steering and control problems (2 recalls). (Manufactured by Polaris Industries Inc. and sold by Polaris dealers). http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07553.html and http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07552.html.

There are many other recalls. Here's a link to the complete recall list for May 2007: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerelmay07.html. It's cliche-ish to say that the world is a dangerous place. But it's also true.

More on kids: Will the government let you name your child "4real"? http://www.wtop.com/?nid=456&sid=1172033.